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03/14/2006 - 00027978CALL TO ORDER: CITY OF FRIDLEY ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2006, 7:00 P.M. Chairperson Johns called the March 14, 2006, meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present Members Absent: Others Present Jack Velin, Anne Andrews, Barbara Johns, Paul Westby, Rich Svanda, Tina Nelson Del Jenkins Rachel Harris, Environmental Planner Kory Jorgensen, City of Fridley Water Superintendant Chairwoman Johns delayed approval of the January 11, 2006 Environmental Quality and Energy Commission minutes as they were not available. NEW BUSINESS Fridley Water Supply System Chairwoman Johns introduced the guest speaker, Kory Jorgenson, Fridley's Water Superintendent, who would speak about the Fridley water supply system. Mr. Jorgenson described Fridley's water supply system. There are 13 wells; all are filtered except wells 1 and 13. Iron and manganese are found in the unfiltered wells. Iron makes the water run rust colored and manganese is the mineral that leaves the circle in the coffee pot. In 1994, TCE was found in Well #9 in Commons Park. At that time, the City of Fridley installed a $60,000 booster plant and formed an agreement with New Brighton to open more wells to flush out the TCE. In the meantime, until Fridley's aquifers cleared up, the City of Fridley developed a 25 year agreement to obtain drinking water from New Brighton. The water flushing plan, conceived by water systems engineers, is working better and faster than expected. Mr. Jorgensen further gave description of the water supply system. Wells 2— 5 are deep wells and numbers 6— 9 are shallow wells. In 2005, the City of Fridley used 1.6 billion gallons of water in the year. Mr. Velin remembered seeing a map of the depth of the City's aquifers some years ago. He requested a copy of that map. Mr. Westby asked about the economics of the City's water system. Specifically, he asked when the filtration system would be changed. Mr. Jorgensen replied that we are selling water at rates that are cheaper than it costs to make it. Water is sold to residents and businesses in Fridley at the rate of $1.15 per 1,000 gallons. The current filtration system will remain in place for years with regular maintenance. Mr. Westby inquired about the filtration system in New Brighton. Mr. Jorgensen said New Brighton uses the GAC filtration system. It is a carbon system. Chairwoman Johns asked if Mr. Jorgensen had to account for the total gallons of water used in a year. Mr. Jorgensen replied, "Absolutely." For example, of the 1.6 billion gallons of water used in 2005, approximately 85 million gallons was used on park lands and 75 million was lost to water main breaks. There were six water main breaks in 2005. Chairwoman Johns requested information about the water rates. Mr. Jorgensen said Fridley is one of the cheapest in the metro. Fees are $1.15 in Fridley versus $1.86 in Coon Rapids. Mr. Jorgensen welcomed additional questions about Fridley's water supply system. His phone number is 763-572-3546. Case Study: Ackerman Home Energy Use Reduced Ms. Harris reported that she had met with Ken Ackerman, long time Fridley resident who had spoken to the Commission over a year ago about another topic. During the recent meeting, Mr. Ackerman shared his documentation of his household's proactive action to reduce energy consumption. His energy consumption dropped significantly over a ten time period. The energy conservation improvements to the home that made the most dramatic impact included caulking and sealing cracks, a reduction of residents from four to two people, adding a blower motor to the furnace and installing new energy-saving windows. Mr. Ackerman noted that the costs associated with the improvements paid for themselves in energy savings and often in a shorter period of time than the product manufacturers said would happen. Mr. Ackerman concluded that the improvements he made to his home can be replicated by anyone. His main interest in sharing this experience was to illustrate that other homeowners can successfully reduce their own home energy use. MOEA's Green Power Campaign Commission member Ms. Nelson shared knowledge that she gained from attending February's MN Air, Waste and Water Conference sponsored by the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance (MOEA). There was a session on alternative energy sources. The MOEA staff talked about their Green Power Campaign. In a second session the MOEA and Twin City Hour Car staff talked about how to combine resources from State agencies and non-profits to conduct social marketing campaigns. Ms. Nelson noted that the MOEA extended the offer of setting up a social marketing campaign to help community groups or municipalities to increase support and funding for wind electricity infrastructure in our state. Based on the information she learned at the conference, Ms. Nelson invited fellow Commission members to consider promoting the opportunity to purchase wind power through the utility company. Purchasing wind power through the power company is the only way to get wind power. Ms. Johns invited open discussion of the topic. Mr. Westby said that he thought it was a good idea and wondered how the Commission could help. Ms. Harris mentioned that since the Commission is focusing more on energy topics in 2006 this topic would be a natural tie-in. Ms. Nelson stated that if the Commission is willing to pursue a social marketing campaign on this topic, it would need to clearly educate consumers that purchasing `green' electricity costs a few dollars more per month. Based on our population of aging residents and younger families, asking residents to pay more for energy may not be a good fit. Ms. Nelson asked if there are informational booths at the household recycling days. She suggested distributing information out about buying green power to the attendees of the Drop-off Days, possibly at the October event. Ms. Harris replied that there are not informational booths at the Drop-off Days, but a person standing at the entrance gate could hand out educational flyers. Ms. Johns observed that at the conclusion of the discussion the Commission had not formulated any plans for a broad social marketing campaign, but was interested in distributing information at the Fall Drop-off. Ms. Nelson shared social marketing handouts that she obtained at the conference. These theories of social marketing could be applied to any future endeavor of the commission. For more information, Commission members are encouraged to review the MOEA's website on the 'Buy Green Power' campaign. Go to http://www.moea.state.mn.us/enerqy/greenpower.cfm. Recycling Report for 2005 Ms. Harris noted that all of Fridley's tonnage has not yet been reported to the County. She is still waiting for tonnage from the charities who pickup household items, textiles and furniture in Fridley. She will likely learn those figures the next day at the County's monthly Solid Waste Abatement Advisory Task Force meeting. Ms. Harris explained the process of why gathering the data takes months. This tonnage is reported directly to Anoka County and then the County sorts the data by zip code. Finally, the County relays the charity tonnage totals to each city. At this time, Fridley has met 98.5% of its recycling goal for 2005. The average six month total for charitable donations in Fridley is 65 — 75 tons. With the additional tons from the charities, the staff expects the City to meet the goal of 2405 tons. OLD BUSINESS January and February Service Exchange Fund Revenues Ms. Harris distributed the Service Exchange Fund revenues from January and February. The revenues earned in January totaled $9,700 and February totaled $8,900. These revenues, in addition to the previously earned $33,000, would be available for payout after April 1, 2006. Draft of Impaired Waters Resolution Ms. Harris said that she had held off on submitting the Commission's draft resolution in support of the Impaired Waters legislation that was proposed at the State legislature since the funding source was unclear. Mr. Svanda said let's go ahead and submit the draft of the resolution to Council. This is an important piece of legislation. Mr. Westby also agreed that Commission support of the resolution was essential. He noted that he sees the debris and contamination that floats down the Mississippi River every day. Water quality is very important to him. 2006 SCORE Contract Ms. Harris reported that she learned on Friday, March 10 that staff found the language in the 2006 SCORE contract with Anoka County to be acceptable. Because of this news, the monies that accrued from the Service Exchange Fund would need to be spent down to zero by the end of the calendar year. OTHER BUSINESS April 15, 2006 Fridley Recycling Drop-off Ms. Harris reported that she was given approval to use a portion of the Service Exchange Fund revenue to pay for free electronics drop-off at the April 15, 2006 Spring Drop-off Day. Ms. Harris explained that the intent of offering recycling of three electronics for free is to use a significant portion of the first six months of the Service Exchange Fund revenue. Then, staff will be able to run down the Service Exchange Fund to zero dollars by the end of the calendar year. This will allow staff to be able to qualify for the full amount of Anoka County's SCORE grant. Commission members Ms. Johns and Mr. Svanda were surprised by the decision to allow free electronic recycling since in previous discussion we steered away from the idea. In fact, Ms. Harris has suggested that allowing free recycling of any item may get residents in the habit of relying on the City to provide free recycling. Ms. Johns concurred. Ms. Andrews thought that residents would be very happy with the news. 49ers Day Parade Trinkets Ms. Harris reported that she had ordered two types of trinkets for the 49ers Day Parade. One trinket, the refrigerator magnet, had arrived and Ms. Harris passed it out to Commissioners. The second trinket, a key tag made of 30% recycled plastic, should arrive in a week. Both trinkets have the 2006 marketing campaign's phrase "Take It To The Curb" and the list the Fridley Recycling Hotline phone number "763-572-3607". May 9, 2006 Meeting Room Location Conference Room A will be unavailable due to a conflict in scheduling. Ms. Harris mentioned that she will be speaking about recycling at the annual Block Captains meeting on May 9 in the Council Chambers. The Block Captains meeting begins at 7 pm. Therefore, Conference Room A will be unusable due to noise levels. Ms. Johns suggested moving the meeting to Conference Room B for the month of May. Commission members unanimously agreed to the room change and to begin the meeting at 7:20 pm after Ms. Harris has given her presentation to the Block Captains. Medical Waste Reports Ms. Harris noted that there were no issues to report from January or February. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Svanda, seconded by Mr. Westby, to adjourn the meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON JOHNS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MARCH 14, 2006, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:23 P.M. Respectfully submitted, :�ra�rar_w:� Environmental Planner and Staff Liaison